Night events...

[graeme]

That would be good, and presumably pretty easy to do, depending on that information is currently on the database, so you could filter by classic, sprint, urban etc.

There's no information about the type of event in the database (which BOF kindly gave me).

I don't think anyone at BOF knows how the the rankings software (which BOF refused to give me) works.

[ianandmonika]

It does seem curious that night events were not in rankings but urban events are. Situation now where some individuals in rankings only have urban event scores. I think I know which is the better test of orienteering skills.

[buzz]

It only really works if the sprint/urban specialists are forced to run night events to give the rest of us a chance to score some points.

Some of those good at urban are also pretty useful at night.....

True, at the sharp end the best orienteers tend to win regardless of the event type.

[The Loofa]

but not necessarily in the same order (to paraphrase Eric Morecambe)
M55s
1st and 2nd place - all counting 6 scores are Urban
3rd and 5th - one Urban score out of 6
4th and 6th - all six in a forest

[awk]

I think I know which is the better test of orienteering skills.

Different races, different skills. Terrain races (depending on the terrain) may well better test certain skills, e.g. contour interpretation, but urban can put things like route selection, route finding and aspects of execution under much greater pressure, especially given the intensity of the race. Of course, that also depends on the planning, area etc!

[EddieH]

I love sprints and think that most of those really do test your skills, but the majority of urban races really don't - just look at the Winsplits analyses - minimal time loss, few changes in position - in fact they appear to give running speed (providing the competitor has a certain base of navigational ability.

There are some urban races that really do manage to stir things up but they are the minority and require a high quality area and a well planned course.

Interestingly the Banchory event this couldn't get away from testing running, but personally I really enjoyed it as I thougt it was a better area for this type of race than for the sprint that was held there last year. Excellent planning but not quite good enough terrain to sort people out.

To my mind urban events are not suitable for ranking whilst sprints are.

Mind you when I look at the venues of many ranking events in easy and very familiar urban parks they're probably no different.

[Nimby]

... are going to be ranked from January
Hooray

This change clearly hasn't filtered through - I can't find a document announcing the change - maybe they just removed the expection [sic] from http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/images/uploaded/downloads/events_competitionrule2014_s_rankingscheme.pdf 2.1.1

Not one of the fifteen A, B or C future night events in the BOF fixture list has the "R" symbol, and so far this year only four of the nine A,B or C night events were ranking.

The Southern Nights wasn't - could/should we change it retrospectively?

[Simon]

The Southern Nights wasn't - could/should we change it retrospectively?

Yes it is. My highest score is from Saturday night. I may have to do more night races...

[Nimby]

Ah. They weren't there yesterday; so presumably there's since been a batch run done to do the update.

So what's the point of the "R" in the fixture list?

[Ravinous]

Brighton City Race - isn't that Urban and Night? Points bonanza!!??

The Swedes (who dont have Urban races) do not include Sprint races in your 6 ranked races as they feel this distorts the ranking list. Night events of course are in. No mass starts or chasing starts either. Foreign events are allowed if enough Swedish ranked people are there - I think you need 5 or 6?
However, sprints are ranked and you can filter disciplines and age classes to your hearts content.
The ranking is fully integrated into the Eventor Event system. However, you do pay 250sek a year to access your ranking (or you can just use someone elses login who has paid to see it!)

[graeme]

. My highest score is from Saturday night. I may have to do more night races...

Bingo bonus?

[MIE]

Ah. They weren't there yesterday; so presumably there's since been a batch run done to do the update.

So what's the point of the "R" in the fixture list?

The weekends events are only included after the Wednesday batch update (23:59:59 +
run time). Any event added after that (for the weekend) results in an automatic
recalculation of points allocated over the weekend and an update to the ranking list.
If the event is added, or amended, more than seven days after it took place then no
ranking points are allocated to it. If it is amended after 7 days (I think) the previously
allocated points "disappear" from all those given points, and from the event.

The ranking R is for "publicity", the ranking is based, primarily, on the event level
(A,B or C)

[MIE]

Brighton City Race - isn't that Urban and Night? Points bonanza!!??

I think, as it is a mass start event, it is not included in the Rankings.

See below:

This change clearly hasn't filtered through - I can't find a document announcing the change - maybe they just removed the expection [sic] from http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/images/uploaded/downloads/events_competitionrule2014_s_rankingscheme.pdf 2.1.1

[roadrunner]

If the event is added, or amended, more than seven days after it took place then no ranking points are allocated to it. If it is amended after 7 days (I think) the previously allocated points "disappear" from all those given points, and from the event.

That does indeed seem to be what the rules imply, but it seems a bit unfair to me: say there's a mistake in the original upload, and for whatever reason (holiday?) the organiser isn't able to fix it within 7 days: then either the mistake is left, or everyone (not just those affected) lose their points.

[King Penguin]

Possibly a by-product of the weekly retrospective recalculation of 12 months results ?